Disinfo: The supposed GRU agents arrested in the Netherlands were actually mere IT experts

Summary

In the Netherlands, the supposed GRU agents arrested outside the OPCW HQ were actually IT experts. They were checking the security of the Russian embassy’s communications, which had been bugged. That they were by the OPCW building is coincidence – the Russian embassy is just across the road.

Suspected poisoners Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov went to the Czech Republic when Skripal could have been there. The British say they were tracking him – but maybe they were tracking the Novichok nerve agent, which Porton Down and the Czechs had.

Background:Anatoly Chepiga and Aleksandr Mishkin (alleged Ruslan Boshirov and Aleksandr Petrov) visited Czech Republic in 2014 when Skripal was there as well. "It looks like the Russians had a group of people that followed Skripal long before the attempt to assassinate him," the publicly funded Czech radio station quoted one source as saying. See the English rereading of the Czech Radio report here.

TV channel Russia 1 exposed the lies of U.S. special envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker. He posted a picture of a woman allegedly shelled by “Donetsk People’s Republic”, whereas in fact she is shelled by Ukrainian army.

October 16, 2018

Disproof

In fact, Volker's tweet does not mention "shelling" launched by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. He says: "These are some of the many victims of Russia’s aggression in eastern Ukraine. We can stop the suffering if Russia was willing to choose #peace4Ukraine". The Russian journalist mistranslated the tweet when interviewing the old woman.

Whereas it is not clear whose shelling had hit the woman's house, it is clear whose aggression caused the situation in Ukraine - which is confirmed by International Criminal Court, or PACE.

The proportion of people who want friendship between Russia and Ukraine remained the same over the past 10 years. This is despite a campaign of anti-Russian propaganda in Ukraine and numerous infringements of Russian speakers’ rights which have been taking place since 2014. According to polls made by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) and Russia’s independent Levada Center, 48% of Ukrainians now view Russia in a positive light, up from 37% last year. By contrast, 32% of Ukrainians view Russians negatively, down from 46% in 2017.

October 15, 2018

Disproof

Vladimir Paniotto, director general of KIIS, described RT’s analysis as a “strange mixture of real data with some fantasy,” adding he “couldn’t understood” where they had taken their figures from.

"After [Russia’s annexation of] Crimea we had a dramatic drop of positive attitudes to Russia, from 85% in 2013 to 30% (in May 2015). In 2008, only 10% of Ukrainians wanted closed borders with Russia. In December 2014 [that figure was] 50% and now [it’s] about 40% (38%),” Paniotto said for Polygraph.info.

don't be deceived, question even more

Share your feedback with us

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.